Why did the Iridium flare I saw appear much higher in the sky than was predicted?

Several people have reported that flares appeared higher than predicted. We believe our
predictions to be accurate, and we have had many confirmations that the position and time
of the flares is normally very accurate compared to actual observations. One possibility is that
the observer sees a different satellite producing a flare at the same time as a predicted one.
The most likely explanation, however, is that most people tend to overestimate elevations. An elevation
of 60° is really very high up in the sky, and you have to tilt your head a long way back to see it,
and it can sometimes seem like it's right overhead.

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